Fintech Highlights - 4/5/2022
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Pinned to the Top
1 big thing: How to think smartly about crypto
Think of cryptocurrency as the first taste of virtual money, available to anyone, anywhere, anytime.
We're in the unregulated, risky, experimental phase — with more than 10,000 different digital currencies available globally with minimal government rules or oversight.
And very few people are buying stuff with it — yet.
Why it matters: Crypto is no fad. It will change how, where and what people buy and sell. But, right now, it’s mostly like trading in risky stocks over the internet, trying to pick the long-shot, long-term winners.
What's happening: Cryptocurrency is the single biggest financial discovery and transformation in generations. Some of the world’s smartest young minds aren’t going to law school or Goldman Sachs — they’re going into crypto.
- It’s already a $2 trillion trading market, roughly the size of Microsoft.
- Young people are into it. Nearly half of millennial millionaires have at least 25% of their wealth in crypto, per CNBC.
- A surge in Bitcoin's value can mint thousands of millionaires — and some billionaires — overnight. But that wealth can disappear as quickly as it came if a cryptocurrency crashes.
What crypto isn't: Blockchain.
- Blockchain is the technology behind your cryptocurrencies — like the internet is the tech behind your email. Newbies often confuse the two.
- Think of blockchain as a massive public database shared by everyone and controlled by no one, so it can't be tampered with. It keeps track of every transaction of a specific currency, such as Bitcoin.
What crypto is: Brady Dale, author of Axios' upcoming crypto newsletter, calls it "money that is native to the web."
- "You know when you're buying something online, and you have to reach for your credit card at checkout? Well, imagine you had money that just lived in your browser, ready to use at any time."
- No, there's nothing you can touch or feel. No coins or bills. Just a record of it on the digital database we mentioned.
Its value is driven mainly by demand, and hype — the more popular it becomes, the more it’s worth.
- This isn’t much different than what drives stock prices and betting lines in sports. But you're betting on an idea — that there's a future for crypto — instead of a sports team with actual players or a business with actual financials.
- So you can make money or lose money, just like in stock markets or gambling. But with fewer regulators watching you — or watching out for you.
Don't be careless: Crypto news site CoinDesk has a guide to spotting scams. If you plan to invest, at least go in eyes-wide-open.
Why pay close attention? Look at crypto as your front door — and front row — for an unfolding virtual world where digital possessions will be similar to physical ones, virtual experiences similar to actual ones.
The BFD
Stockholm-based ArK Kapital has announced a whopping €165m in seed funding. The fintech offers €1m-10m loans to grease the wheels of European start-ups.
Why it's the BFD: It’s big news for ArK and the fintech ecosystem at large - the company is all about helping others to scale up and scale smarter. Who knows how far the ripples of this seed will be felt?
The Big Picture: What’s for certain is that the European fintech space is in a healthy spot. And ArK’s in-house AI platform, the ArK Intelligence Machine (AIM), has the high-tech analytics to put it there. And double the modest 20-person workforce over the course of the year. The future looks bright for ArK Kapital.
M&A
Alkami Technology, Inc. (NAS: ALKT), a Plano-based digital banking solutions provider for US financial institutions, has entered a definitive agreement for $135M to acquire Segmint Inc., a leader in making account and transaction data usable and meaningful. More here ->
Fintechs
Cross River Bank, the Fort Lee, N.J.-based lender to fintech companies, confirmed that it raised $620m at a valuation north of $3B. Andreessen Horowitz and Eldridge Industries co-led. More here ->
Modern Treasury, as S.F.-based payments infrastructure startup, raised $50m. The company makes software to help companies manage cash flow and bank payments. More here ->
Archie, a New York-based fintech focused on freelancers, raised $4.5M. Archie is a new digital services platform tailor-made for freelancers within any industry, from e-commerce to health care. The platform connects businesses and freelancers, facilitating the transfer of necessary information and documents (contracts, NDAs, invoices, W-9s, etc.), and taking freelancers from onboarding to payments with all the necessary steps in between, including managing end-of-year tax filings. More here ->
Equi, an investing platform startup, raised $10m in seed funding. The company is building a "family office for non-billionaires." In order to invest with Equi, one has to qualify as an accredited investor, usually through meeting an annual income threshold of $200,000 for individuals or $300,000 for married couples. About 1 in 10 American households fit this definition. More here ->
Prizeout, a New York-based startup focused on digital gift cards, raised $25M in Series B funding. Prizeout is a first-in-class ad-tech company that works within the gaming, neobank, crypto, gig economy, payroll & finance industries to turn withdrawals into a growth solution for e-commerce & retail businesses. More here ->
CredPal, one of the earliest pioneers of buy now, pay later in Nigeria, has closed a bridge round of $15 million in equity and debt — the latter constituting a very large chunk of the financing — to expand its consumer credit offerings across Africa. More here ->
Pine Labs, an Indian digital payments provider, raised $50m in new funding at a valuation north of $5B. More here ->
Khazna, an Egyptian financial super-app, raised $38M in Series A equity and debt funding. The company, founded by Omar Saleh, Ahmed Wagueeh, Fatma El Shenawy, and Omar Salah in 2019, provides basic banking and various financial services focusing on middle and lower-income earners. More here ->
Savings and investing app Chip raised £6.5m from over 9,000 investors this week in its latest crowdfunding round, taking the next step on its journey to becoming a super app. More here ->
Yonder, a London-based credit card startup, raised £20M. Yonder wants to woo millennial city dwellers with no credit score requirements and free gigs instead of Avios points. More here ->
Anyday, a Danish BNPL startup, raised €4m in seed funding. Te service offers a BNPL model that has zero interest, no fees, and provides a high credit line for qualified customers. More here ->
Crypto
Blur, an NFT marketplace for professional traders, raised $11m in seed funding. Current marketplaces do not make provision for the needs of professional traders as they, instead, prioritize the experience of retail investors. This has left a chasm in the space it is looking to fill. More here ->
Wert, a payments gateway that enables direct NFT purchases with credit cards, raised $5M in seed funding. More here ->
Proptech
Deepki, a Paris-based provider of ESG data software for the real estate sector, raised €150m in Series C funding. More here ->
Home365, a San Jose, Calif.-based real estate investing and property management platform, raised $26m in Series B. More here ->
Weaver, a London-based home renovations contract negotiation SaaS, raised $4m in seed funding. More here ->
Jia Finance, a Washington, D.C.-based platform that helps Asian investors access U.S. residential mortgages, raised $5m in seed funding. More here ->
From the Stash
Texas Funding Scene Gets Bigger In 2022 — news.crunchbase.com So far this year, Texas companies have pulled in over $2.6 billion in seed through growth-stage venture funding, per Crunchbase data. That puts the state on track to well surpass its 2021 funding totals—which were themselves the highest on record.
Visa’s next step for digital currencies? Connecting real-time platform to digital wallets — bankautomationnews.com Visa is planning to connect its real-time platform to digital wallets, which could provide greater access to the company’s payments network. Image by CanStock Linking the Visa Direct payments platform to digital wallets could provide greater access to digital wallets for the 5 billion bank accounts and cards connected to Visa Direct globally, said Catherine
Movers and Shakers: State Street Digital builds out global leadership team — bankautomationnews.com State Street built out its dedicated digital division in March, adding three executives to its leadership team. Katie Richards, based in Zurich, joined as global head of operations. She will be responsible for driving the execution of State Street Digital’s strategy and developing sustainable and scalable operational solutions. She previously served as chief executive officer
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